Grandmother
by Scotia Daniel
Summary: When April and Donatello's daughter reaches the right age, they take her to meet the one family member she had yet to meet.


"Do you really think she's ready for this?"

"April, she's seven years old. I don't think this will do any damage..."

"I know. I just want to make sure she's ready. I'd hate for this to effect her in anyway."

"Relax, April. Let's just see...if she's not ready, we'll take her back in another few years or so, okay?"

"Well..alright."

Magdalene Hamato didn't quite understand what her parents were talking about, so she focused her attention on the small stuffed turtle in her hands. It was late in the night and her parents had said something about visiting someone important.

Maggie pursed her lips and looked out the window. The buildings passed in a blur through the tinted windows of the van they were in. It was getting close to her bedtime, so wherever her parents were taking her must be very important, but she honestly couldn't wrap her mind around what it could possibly be.

After a few turns and a track up a hill, the van finally parked and the face of Maggie's mother, April, turned to look at her with a weary smile. Her bangs fell in her face and beneath them Maggie could tell her mother's brows were knitted.

"Are you ready, sweetie?"

Maggie didn't know what she'd be ready for, so she just nodded and unbuckled herself. The car door opened and she was met with the tall figure of her father. Donatello smiled down at her with a hint of sadness.

"Let's go, princess."

Donatello helped her out and Maggie landed on the grass of a cemetery. It was eerie in the dark, like something right out of a few books Maggie had read on vampires and zombies and werewolves. Were they hunting monsters? Maggie held her dad's hand tighter with her tiny fingers. April locked the car and took Maggie's other hand. As a family, they began to walk down a dirt path.

Trees surrounded the area, casting shadows over tombs of all sorts. There were headstones that were flat in the ground and others that were big and bulky. What kind of people rested beneath her feet?

A full moon was high in the sky that lit the dirt path. Without it, she was sure they wouldn't have been able to find their way. The cemetery was old and didn't have any lights for night time visitors. Then again, she didn't think they were supposed to be there. Her father had to cut off chains that locked the fence so that they could get in.

The path was bumpy, but Maggie didn't have any trouble in the dark. Her and her father were able to navigate the uneven path with ease, her mother struggling a tad. She supposed it was because her body was similar to her father's where it was meant for climbing and running and the like. She had two extra fingers and toes than him, but it wasn't hard for her to learn to move like her dad.

Maggie's parents stopped and the younger of them looked up to see where they had stopped. A grave stood in front of them, surrounded by overgrown plants and sat in the shade of a tree. Flowers had already been placed there and moss had begun to grow on the tombstone from age.

Donatello and April let go of Maggie's hands. She took a step forward and leaned in to read the words on the stone: 'Here lies Linda O'Neil, beloved mother, wife, daughter and sister.'

Maggie traced the name with her fingers. O'Neil...where did she recognize that last name? Oh, yeah! It was her mother's maiden name before she took Donatello's last name. She traced the words, lost in thought.

After a moment of silence, Maggie realized that the grave belonged to her grandmother. Not the one that had been married to Jiijii-chan, but the wife of Grandpa Kirby.

Grandpa had mentioned the woman a few times, but because she had died so long ago, he tended to talk more about the present than the past. But from what she remembered, her grandmother had been a very small and petite woman who always wore a smile on her face. Her dark brown locks bordered her face and fell like a waterfall over her shoulders.

She had been the kind of woman who sung while she cooked and always made time for her family. She had passed away from cancer when Maggie's mother was very young. She recalled her mom saying she could remember the woman, but only vaguely.

Maggie stood up straight and gazed down at the tombstone, suddenly feeling uneasy. Would this woman have liked her? She was young but she knew her dad would be the target of science experiments if the world discovered he existed along with her uncles and other grandfather. Maggie was told that grandpa had objected to her father and mother being together at first but came around in time for her birth. Would her grandmother have done the same?

She liked to imagine her grandmother would have loved her, no matter who her father was or what made up her genetics. She could image an older woman with greying hair and wrinkles on her face from smiling so often reaching her arms out to Maggie and saying: 'Oh, honey! Of course I love you! You're my granddaughter! How could I ever hate you?'

Maggie felt herself smile and she leaned in and hugged the stone. It was cold on her skin, but she didn't care. She didn't know the woman who's stone she was hugging well...but she could care less. The woman was her grandmother. She would always have a special place in her heart and she'd cherish her, even though she couldn't be there to watch her grow up just like she couldn't see her own daughter mature over the years.

The little girl let go of the stone and turned to her parents. They looked down at her with anticipation growing in their wide eyes. Maggie beamed at them and took their hands, tugging at their fingers as though she were saying 'let's go!'

Maggie could see her parents relax and smile at each other. As a family, they walked through the cemetery and back to the car. Her mother started it up as her dad buckled her in.

The little girl felt sleep tickle at her eyes and felt her lids droop. The car hitched and began to descend down the hill. The bumps the car ran over began to rock the little girl asleep. But before she did, she glanced out the window and towards where her grandmother was buried and imaged the woman standing at her grave and waving goodbye, a proud grin on her face. The edges of Maggie's lips curved and closed her eyes, happy to have finally met her grandmother.

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